Abby's First Year

Party Time!

Well, after MUCH prep and hard work, Abby's party was here! I must say that I was glad that it was time to have fun, but also wished we had a few more days to get stuff done at the same time...imagine that! All in all it was a great day filled with loving family and friends, good food and priceless memories. Here are a few pics:

Our Birthday Girl

The cake of mini cupcakes

After a delicious meal of "Abby-burgers", Mac-n-cheese, and other goodies cooked by one of Michael's new found "friends" we got ready to sing Abby Happy Birthday!

Easy to clean: Diaper and bib only :)

Abby's Cake

Getting ready to blow out the candle...

Dig in!

Such a lady! She didn't really dig, just nibbled...

and shared with Mommy!

And Aunt Wendy too ;P

Then came the pinata!

And gifts!

And cuteness!

And bounce house fun, too!

What a great ending to a perfect year! I learned a lot in the process of planning this party:

*it is ok to let go of some projects and let a professional help (thanks to Carolyn for cooking and Mission Clean for cleaning)

*after estimating how long you think it will take to complete a project (videos especially) TRIPLE your time

*NEVER expect specific, verbal directions to over ride a picture of a rough idea (even when you explain the pic has flaws)

*family is always there to lend a hand and make GREAT babysitters

*the day will always go by too fast so be sure to take LOTS of pictures (or even better: appoint someone to take them for you! It is like a gift you give to yourself, especially when you get to look at them and see things you missed)

*take a moment together as a family so that you feel like you had at least one special second all to yourselves.

Hopefully, I will take all of this with me into our second year and be a better mother because of it!

I want to say a special thanks to all of you, my followers and lurkers (you know who you are...), for spending a little of you time here at our blog this past year. I hope that you have enjoyed my ramblings and maybe even learned a little too! I hope to hear from you soon!

Walking

As was stated last night: Abby passed out before we could get through the birthday festivities! And so, the fun continued this morning! First thing we did was eat some breakfast, then the following took place:

Once she dug into the cake, she really enjoyed herself! I hope that she has this much fun on Saturday too :)

In other news: We have a walker!!!! Although the journey to walking started months ago with pulling up, it feels as though it was just yesterday that she started her life as a vertical being! Here is a little video of this month's hard work:

I guess walking was her birthday present to herself!

Dear Abby

Just 365 short days ago, my life changed forever in a way that I never imagined possible. From the moment I first held you, I knew that I would never be the same woman I was before. What an amazing year this has been! You have changed me in so many ways and all of them for the better

Birthday Fun Begins!

What a wonderful day today turned out to be!

We woke up to a happy little girl banging her paci on her crib and a few birthday phone calls. It was great to know that we weren't the only ones excited for this day! Birthday breakfast was yummy, Abby had pancakes, yogurt, and grapes. Then, MJ and I did some stuff around the house while Aunt Wendy Abbysat for a bit. It seems as though Abby decided that walking was a bit more interesting today too. Wendy said that she walked from the chair to the coffee table, which is about 5 feet or so, and then she stood for a good minute then walked 2 feet or so before sitting down. Go Abby! Later this after noon, we got ready and hit the road. Where were we going you ask? The Zoo!!!

We had so much fun checking out all the sights: trees, swimmy things, kangaroos, feathered things, a polar bear or two, sleepy tigers, and Abby's favorite--PEOPLE! I think she had more fun waving hello to all the people than anything else. Figures :) Perhaps this will be our B-day tradition!

Cheese!

Getting ready to see the polar bears:

Wow, that is a big foot print!

Loving Daddy

Mommy time!

Next we went to dinner and Abby ate tons of pasta. I think she ate 1/4 of my dinner! She sure love it, that or she was super hungry. When our bellies were full we headed home for some cake, but Abby was so tuckered out that it just wasn't going to happen tonight. Well, I guess the birthday festivities will have to continue into tomorrow! Hey, we have until 11:02 a.m. to celebrate her birth"day" (24 hours, right?!!)!

All in all it was a perfect day! As you know, I had been dreading Abby turning one...but in the end I was sad to see this special day go. I am just amazed at how much has changed in the last year and am so excited to see what the next one brings!

Happy 1st Birthday Abigail!

As of the very minute, my little Abigail is one year old!!!

Happy Birthday Abby!!!!

Ooops! This posted one minute too early--Abby was born at 11:02!

T minus 3 Days

With just under a week to go before the big party, today was a busy day of prep and hard work. A big thank you is in order for Mark and Stacey for watching Abby today so we could get some stuff done. With that, I don't have much to report on again today, but I did post pictures from our March Florida vacation...Yes, I know that it is VERY overdue!!!!

Retrospective photo of the day:

MJ and me at Julie's wedding one year ago on the 14th...I was five days overdue and still happy as a clam. Check out that belly!

T minus 4 Days

Whew--what a day! The family headed out to do some party shopping, which turned into an all day affair. All I have to say is that Abby is quite a trooper when it comes to shopping! Bless her heart!

When we got home, we Skyped Grandma Kat and opened up Abby's birthday gifts. She loves her Good Night Abby Cadabby talking doll and her "Guess Who, Abby" book!! Then we Skyped Granmama in Virgina before heading off to a late bedtime.

Well since I don't have much to report tonight, I took a few moments to post some 4th of July photos. Check them out at this post: 4th of July Fun

T minus 6 Days

I'm back! We have been busy little beavers over here getting ready for the birthday extravaganza! I am SLOWLY coming to terms with the fact that in less than one week I will have a one year old! Hang in there with me, I'm sure I will get there at some point.



Today was a BIG day for Abby and Gramps....as Gramps has been waiting Abby's whole life for this "first"! Take a peek:

That's right, Abby had her first bite of pizza today and it was with Gramps! Let me give you a bit of background on the topic: For one of my baby showers, the guests were to give books instead of cards and seeing how Gramps loves pizza (and knows that it will soon be one of Abby's favorite things to eat with him) so much searched for the perfect book and found one about making pizza with Grampa...it was the cutest thing and just the perfect gift from Gramps. And with today's first, a new ritual was born! I'm sure Abby will have her fair share of pizza at Gramps and Grandma D's house :)

Abby also got to meet some of my family for the first time today: My Uncle Denny, Aunt Carol and cousin Sara, who is in town from California along with her son Shalin. The last time I saw Sara I was 41 week preggers...my how things have changed! It was great to spend some time with them--Thank you Sara for making time to see all of us!

T minus 13 Days

Ladies and gentlemen, we have steps!!!!!! I am completely amazed at just how fast this is happening, but I also kind of knew it wouldn't take much after she decided that she wanted to walk. All day today Abby moved about the house with speed and a lack of fear. It was as if she owned the place (well, she kind of does but that is a given). She grew more and more confident in her diving steps and seemed to be covering greater distances with them.



Abby was in rare form for most of the afternoon, probably because she pretty much refused to sleep for more than 20 minutes at any given time. So, off to Gramps and Grandma D's we went (it is about a 40 minute drive and Mommy was hoping that she would sleep for most of that)! Gramps did his best to entertain Abby...he even busted out a little Mario Kart on the Wii. Too funny :) Afterwards, Abby decided to warm up her walking skills with a lot of cruising and standing. She stood for a long, long time a couple of times...we found that as long as she had something in her had to distract her she would stand. Then after dinner, she really got moving!



Here is how it went: Gramps was sitting on one side of the living room and I was on the other. Abby was over with Gramps playing with her pinwheel (I think it was) and I asked her to share it with Mommy. At first she just held it out then I asked her to "come here". She slowly took one small step away from Gramps, then another. Now she was past her reach of Gramps but not yet within my reach. She paused at this point but then continued. Next came step three and then step four!!! That's right, four steps in a row! There was no denying this one or explaining it away :)



I wish I could say that I have it on video, but you know---Murphy's law! I have been trying for the past few days to get Abby's diving steps on video, but have not had much luck due to the baby that resides inside the camera. (Let me help you: I let Abby watch some of the video of her on the camera a few times and now whenever she hears the camera turn on she gets excited and wants to see the baby.) I continued to try today at Gramps' house this evening, but had given up right before dinner...we tried go get a repeat, but you know that that NEVER happens! I promise to post walking video as soon as I get some. This will have to do for now!!!

T minus 14 Days and Happy Anniversary to Us!!

That's right folks, in just two weeks we will have a one-year old daughter!!! I'm not sure that I am coming to terms with this like I should be yet...hey I still have a little before I HAVE to :)

Today, our little fam went for a two hour walk...it was hot, it was humid and it was only 9 a.m. Abby slept for the first half then chattered and hummed for the second half. Then we hung out for a little and packed Abby up for an evening at Nana and Papa's (so MJ and I could enjoy an evening out in celebration of our third anniversary). As we were driving on the back roads, the weirdest thing happened--it rained a squirrel! From nowhere a squirrel dropped from the sky, right into the middle of the dirt road. Poor thing seemed stunned after its thump to the ground. I was surprised to see it get up and run away...hope he/she is ok this evening!!

After a drive-by drop-off we headed to the D for dinner and a Tigers game. We went to Small Plates downtown so that we could use a Groupon that we scored a few months ago ($40 of goods for the low price of $20...not too shabby). All in all the food was ok--kind of bland if I do say so myself--but the beer and drinks were good. Can't go wrong with good old Miller Light and a tasty drink called The DJ's Fav (vanilla Stoli, Southern Comfort and Coke--sweet but GOOD). I would go back for the BBQ pizza and fries, but you can keep the lettuce wraps and bagel brochette.

Next we made our way through town and down to the park, but not with out a stop into a local bar for a Jager Bomb. Chelie's Chili was MJ's place of choice tonight. In and out.

Then we settled into our seats, beer in hand, for a little relaxation. We had GREAT seats tonight thanks to StubHub and a season ticket holder. We scored seats in section 118, row 6. I don't know what I was thinking when we purchased the tickets but I was pleasantly surprised to see just how great the seats were. It was nice to see all the calls at home plate for a change.

We had a good time at the game. We chatted it up with the older couple to our left who were from Chicago. The were true White Sox's fans from head to toe...literally! Grandpa had the hat and shirt to show it while Grandma had the earrings, shirt, and flip-flops!!! They were in town for the series, nothing more, nothing less. By the end of the night we were showing off our little ones (6 grand kids for them) and laughing at the spectators together. Sadly, one of their grandsons is rather sick due to having half a heart. He sounds like a real trooper though and brings many smiles to their faces. I would just like to say that we have this family in our prayers tonight and hope you might do the same.

Well after 7 innings of not so great playing, MJ and I decided to hit the road so that we could pick up little Abb-ster and get to bed. It is funny just how much you can miss a little thing! Needless to say she was passed out in bed with Nana when we got there at 10:30. She must of had fun playing!

And that my friends brigs us to a close for this find day!

MJ--I love you and am so lucky to have you in my life (as is Abby). It is amazing to think of what a blessing the past 3 years have been with you in them. Thank you for loving me the way you do and for putting up with all my.....ummmm......crap sometimes! I truly don't know what I would do without you! You always managed to bring some sunshine to my day when I am struggling, love when I am down (and even when I'm not), laughter when I'm to uptight, and true prospective when I need it most! I love you Michael Johnson!!!!! I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us :)

T minus 15 Days

Today was another sad day in the countdown to Abby turning one...we officially eliminated the morning nursing session :( If you haven't been keeping track, that means that we are down to one nursing a day. That is a far cry from the 10-12 feedings we were doing just over a year ago when we brought her home. My, how she has grown! I am a bit worried because she only had 7 ounces of formula and the evening nursing (plus solid food too of coarse), it just doesn't seem like enough liquid for a day. Oh well, I'm sure she will catch on to the new game plan soon enough.

In other news, I have been in denial for awhile now but can no longer live there. I thought I have seen Abby move from place A to B without holding on--kind of stepping but kind of diving at the same time--but refused to believe it. The other day my dad told me he thought he saw the same thing...I refused to believe this as well. But today I watched her dive from the end of the coffee table to the end of the couch, which is a good three feet. Might this be the first signs of her coming steps??? I tried to get it on video, but she knows that she can see "the baby" on the camera and comes trucking right over. I have to be super stealthy now days. I will try to get it on tape soon :)

T minus 16 Days

Silly little Abby always manages to amaze me and make me smile! Last week my Dad and sister spent the day watching Abby while I did some work around the house. Towards the end of the day Gramps and Abby had a little computer time. Gramps, being the resourceful fella that he is, found Plum-Vision--and Abby LOVED it! So much so, that it is now one of our "Favorites" (hey, a mom has to do what a mom has to do in order to get a call in or the dishwasher unloaded). One of the scenes is about the wind blowing and it shows kids blowing and the wind moving things. Much to my amazement, Abby started to blow too. I thought it was a fluke at first, but the last few days I have seen Abby blowing from time to time. Then today when I started Plum-Vision, Abby blew and blew and blew. It is funny because she gets so excited when the music starts, I just laugh! So, with this new skill I am working on getting her to blow on cue (which seems to be working just fine) so that maybe, just maybe, she will be able to blow out her own birthday candles. Wish me luck!

Skill building did not stop there today! At snack time Abby and I had some watermelon and cheese. For some of you, this may seem like a strange combo, but really it is not bad. Abby LOVES cheese and gets oh-so-excited when she see it. Funny! So, I figured that we should make "cheese" our next sign. Usually, it takes a week or so of heavy use for Abby to pick up a sign. But not today! Abby was signing "cheese" by the end of snack! Either it is her LOVE of cheese or her sheer brilliance...hummm. Well, we will see if "cheese" sticks around for lunch or snack tomorrow.

Later, we went to Nana and Papa's to wish them a happy homecoming. Mark and the girls were there too, Abby had fun playing with them two days in a row! Thank you Nana and Papa for the gifts, especially the Eskimo doll and duck whistle (Michael truly enjoyed the whistle!!). Here are just a few pictures of the fun had by all.

Julia mastered the Duck Whistle right away

Gracie took a little longer, but had it down too

Abby on there hand, not so much...

That's ok, there is always love from Nana!!

Let the Countdown Begin!

I can't believe that it is August already and that in just 17 days our little Abigail will be ONE!! It is still hard to wrap my head around the life of parenthood and the joy that a little brings!

Abby is fine tuning her "almost-walking" skills each day. She loves to walk holding on to something--fingers, a pant leg, a walking toy, the wall--and winds up standing without realizing it while playing with toys. I think all she needs to do is want to and she will be off!!

I love resale items and Abby does too. She was pushing this around the yard today:

Uncle Mark, Aunt Stacey and the girls (Julia and Gracie) came for a visit today. Actually, Mark helped us with a little party prep--he and Michael worked out in the yard today. Thanks Uncle Mark!

Play time with Abby

(Thanks to the Ratliff Family for the hand-me-downs--Everyone LOVES the walking toy!)

Kisses for my cousin!


Hey there little niece!




Hanging with Uncle Mark

Today was a good day and a great start to a WONDERFUL month!